India, with a inhabitants of over 1.4 billion and a GDP of over 3.417 trillion USD, has develop into a prime goal for cyberattacks throughout its normal elections scheduled between 19 April and 1 June 2024, stories Resecurity’s cyber risk intelligence group.
The assaults, which contain leaking of stolen private data and misinformation campaigns, have elevated by almost 300% because the launch of the #OpIndia marketing campaign final yr. Nonetheless, researchers imagine these might be precursors to extra important malicious exercise which will additionally contain overseas interference.
Round 16 totally different impartial hacktivist teams are concentrating on Indian elections, together with Anon Black Flag Indonesia, Nameless Bangladesh, and Morocco Black Cyber Military, amongst others.
“These 16 groups have targeted multiple law enforcement, government, healthcare, financial, educational, and private sector organizations in India, taking advantage of geopolitical narratives before recent elections,” researchers famous.
Resecurity noticed that the Ahadun-Ahad 2.0 Crew has printed Indian Voter ID playing cards on Telegram, that are issued by the Election Fee of India to 18+ people domiciled in India. The supply of the info is unclear, however they think it’s linked to compromised third-party entities.
Furthermore, cybercriminals have stolen AADHAAR, PAN, driving licenses, and NOC paperwork from the Darkish Internet, together with 36 GB of personally identifiable data (PII) belonging to Indian residents.
The info, primarily in graphic kind with victims’ selfies, might be used to unfold false data, undermine belief within the electoral course of, and revenue from promoting stolen data on the darkish internet. Resecurity alerted legislation enforcement and federal authorities to the leaked knowledge.
Researchers additionally noticed public opinion manipulation campaigns concentrating on Indian authorities leaders, utilizing knowledge leaks, web site defacements, and political narratives. These ‘cyber-guerilla’ techniques blur attribution and function below the ‘false flag’ of impartial hacktivists aiming to create social battle between Indian and Muslim populations.
Resecurity stories that cybercriminals have focused elections in 17 international locations, elevating considerations concerning the upcoming US normal elections. To construct a “cybersecure society,” correct identification safety mechanisms needs to be applied, with proactive notifications for residents when leaks are detected at nighttime internet, researchers concluded.
You possibly can detect phoney social media posts by scrutinizing catchy slogans, verifying the supply and movies/images (if included) to make sure they’re not tampered with and don’t hesitate to report suspicious exercise.
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